Bureaucracy swells at Texas Youth Commission

Published 5:30 am, Monday, September 8, 2008

AUSTIN — The Texas Youth Commission has half the offenders it did 18 months ago, but the number of administrators overseeing the state's juvenile correctional agency hasn't been cut. It's grown. And some of the new bureaucrats have recently enjoyed raises.

Take Stephen Foster. He was hired last year as the agency's general counsel, at an annual salary of $104,000.

Then, as the population of offenders at his agency began plummeting — it now stands at 2,200 — Foster received a nearly 7 percent raise. He now earns $111,000 a year, according to agency records.

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His new salary is almost 8 percent higher than that of his counterpart at the state's adult prison system, Melinda Hoyle Bozarth, even though Bozarth works for an agency with 158,000 inmates.

The two men who work in the media office at the state's juvenile correctional agency each earn more than their counterparts at the state's adult prison as well. With an annual salary of $100,000, Jim Hurley, TYC's media relations director, makes 30 percent more than the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's media director, Michelle Lyons. With his recent 7 percent raise, Tim Savoy, the second media spokesman at TYC, earns $75,000, 19 percent more than his TDCJ counterpart, Jason Clark.

From its headquarters in Austin, 368 administrators oversee the state's juvenile correctional agency, 47 more than early last year, when TYC had 4,000 offenders in its lockups, nearly double today's number. As the offender population has dwindled — the result of a new state law that closed the agency to offenders ages 18 to 21 and offenders sentenced on misdemeanors — the total cost of paying all those employees has risen by nearly a quarter, to $18.7 million a year.

Some lawmakers say agency bigwigs have shown a willful disregard for reining in expenses. Last month, the chair and co-chair of the joint committee that oversees the agency asked the state auditor, John Keel, to step in and investigate.

"It's an agency of high-priced employees in the central office trying to protect salaries and turf," Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, the chairman of the joint committee and one of the letter writers, said last week.

Salary comparisons

Defending the agency, TYC Conservator
Richard Nedelkoff
, who was appointed by Gov.
Rick Perry
last year in the wake of the abuse scandal, said many of the executive hires were required by legislature reforms passed in 2007. He said he hired others simply to keep the agency from sinking.

After learning his salary would be reported, Hurley, TYC's media director, said it was unfair to compare salaries paid to TYC employees like himself in Austin, one of the more expensive areas in Texas, against those in Huntsville, where TDCJ has its headquarters.

Hurley said that TDCJ may pay their employees less, but he knew employees at other state agencies who were paid more. He said his responsibilities include serving as a governmental affairs director — something his TDCJ counterpart acknowledged she was not responsible for.

Still, Nedelkoff said he will take steps to address lawmakers' concerns about runaway costs. He's ordered a freeze on raises for senior level management. And he's open to eliminating as many as many as 30 central office management positions in 2010.

"Instead of spending money retaining and attracting new (juvenile correctional officers), TYC has chosen to increase central office personnel," Whitmire and Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Plano, said in their letter to the auditor.

"In addition, we have seen evidence that large salary increases are being given to executive staff members. Yet today, our juvenile correctional system sits without a functional classification system or proven treatment and educational programs."

Whitmire, who has called for eliminating TYC and diverting youths to local probation departments, said he was disappointed more progress hasn't been made at TYC in the 18 months since the abuse scandal broke.

A recent report described the educational system as generally poor, with overwhelmed teachers and poorly designed programs. And despite months of research and money, a treatment program has yet to be implemented systemwide.

Nedelkoff hinted that some of the criticism directed at it was unfair. "Reforms take years and years," Nedelkoff said.

Safety improvements

No one can dispute that TYC's youths are safer today than they were early last year. Eleven thousand surveillance cameras have been installed in communal areas systemwide; an office of inspector general has been established to investigate crimes; an ombudsman has set up shop to advocate for juveniles; correctional officers receive more training and there are more of them for every youth, Nedelkoff said.

The framework and the foundations for reform, Nedelkoff said, are just about complete.

Last week, Nedelkoff named Cherie Townsend, a former TYC employee, as executive director — the agency's fifth in the past two years. She'll earn $125,000 a year, and the agency has requested a salary raise for her.